As Sir William's shattering words hung in empty air, Dominick gasped and his embrace turned rigid. “Dear God! But if that's true, why did no one ever tell us?"

Roxanne pulled away and pivoted to stare at her father, stammering, “It can’t, it can't, be true! My mother died when I was four. I scarcely remember her."

Her father snarled, "The bitch didn't die, she ran away with her lover! Haven't you ever wondered why there was no grave?"

"I... I never thought about it. I assumed Mama was buried in Buckinghamshire at her family's estate." Stunned, Roxanne searched her memory, trying to recall what had happened. She'd looked forward to the nursery visits of her mother, who had the same red hair she'd bequeathed to her daughter. Sometimes she was charming and playful. Other times she was sad, with reddened eyes she couldn't disguise.

Then her mother stopped visiting. After what seemed like forever, Roxanne timidly asked when her mama would next come. The nursemaid said repressively that Lady Mayfield has passed on. There had been a strong implication of death, though the word had never been used. Roxanne had been too young to question further. And because she had lived such an isolated life, she had never heard any gossip to make her wonder.

Turning to Dominick, she asked, "You didn't know either?"

"I swear to God that I had no idea." He felt numb, and sure to the bone that this time the baronet was telling the truth. "One day my mother announced that my father had left us and would not be coming back. I didn't dare ask questions since the subject upset her terribly. She never mentioned him again except to tell me several years later that he had died in Naples. By then I had learned from a servant that my father had run off with a married woman, but I never knew her name."

"Well, you know now!" Sir William spat out. “My wife died at the same time, of the same cholera that killed your father. Yes, I lied to both of you when I forced you to leave ten years ago, but breaking up the relationship spared your mother the horror I felt when you asked for Roxanne's hand. Your mother would have been as appalled by a marriage between you two as I was." His face worked. “I’ve done my best to protect my daughter. I'd rather die than lose her to another Chandler."

Dominick stared at Roxanne, wondering what she was thinking. When she slipped away from him, he had the sick feeling that this time the baronet had won.

But he misjudged her. Stopping in front of her father, she said quietly, "The only way you will lose me is if you refuse to accept Dominick as my husband. He is not his father any more than I am my mother, and he is just as much a victim of their selfishness as you and I. Now I understand why you tried to separate us, but we are not the same as our parents. Dominick and I are both single and free to love each other."

With unexpected compassion for the older man, Dominick added, "Trying to deny our love will not change the past, Sir William. I'm sorry for what happened for all of our sakes, but I'll be damned if I will walk away from the only woman I've ever loved to pay for my father's crime."

His breathing harsh, the baronet buried his face in his hands. Gently Roxanne said, "It can't be easy to stop feeling anger after so many years, but for my sake I hope you will try. I don't want to lose you, Papa." She gave Dominick a quick glance. "We'll be going on a long honeymoon. When we return, I hope you will receive us at Maybourne Towers."

Sir William lowered his hands. His expression was haggard, but his eyes showed relief at having revealed his long-held secret. "Perhaps… by then I'll be able to. I don't want to lose you, either." With a flash of familiar belligerence, he said, “But if you make my daughter miserable, Chandler, I'll make you rue the day you were born!"

Dominick wrapped a protective arm around Roxanne's shoulders. “If she's unhappy, it won't be for lack of trying on my part."

After a hard look, the baronet gave a small nod, then turned and left the clearing. With a sweep of his arm he collected the men, who had been watching in fascination. A few minutes later hoof beats sounded as the would-be rescue party rode away.

Dominick gave a long, exhausted sigh. "Life is stranger even than I imagined."

Roxanne glanced up, her fox-brown eyes grave but serene. "It's not really such a coincidence. When we met, you said you were looking for that ruined Roman villa because your father had told you about it when you were a child. That is what brought you to Maybourne Towers. Perhaps the villa is what brought him to Maybourne and that's how he met my mother."

He drew her close. "It was wickedly wrong for my father and your mother to elope. Yet . . . if he loved her as much as I love you, I can understand why he did it. From what your father just said, they were together until death did them part."

"And if my mother loved him as I love you, I know why she left everything she possessed, including me, to go with him," Roxanne said softly. "I do love you, you know. I don't believe I mentioned that last night."

"You didn't, but we'll have ample time to rectify the omission." A smile in his voice, he continued, "Shall I take you to paradise for our honeymoon?"

"I'd like to see your islands, my love, but there's no need to travel that far." She burrowed into his arms with a sigh of pure joy. "I’ve found paradise right here."